Pa. views on NCAA ruling

More than four in 10 adults in Pennsylvania say the NCAA punished Penn State too severely over its handling of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, according to a new poll.

Forty-four percent of Pennsylvania adults view the NCAA penalties as too severe, 33 percent call them appropriate and 14 percent say they're not tough enough, according to a Quinnipiac University/CBS News/New York Times poll released Thursday.

Opposition to the NCAA sanctions rose above 50 percent among Pennsylvania residents with Penn State ties.

The same poll found that 60 percent of Pennsylvania adults say that major colleges and universities should place less importance on their athletic programs.

The NCAA fined Penn State $60 million, imposed a multi-year bowl ban, invalidated 112 wins and took away future scholarships in the wake of a report by former FBI Director Louis Freeh that accused late coach Joe Paterno and top administrators of concealing child sex abuse allegations against Sandusky more than a decade ago.

The Quinnipiac poll of 1,494 people was taken July 24 to 30 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.